Barcelonnette | ||
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Commune | ||
Place Manuel
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Coordinates: 44°23′12″N 6°39′11″E / 44.3867°N 6.6531°ECoordinates: 44°23′12″N 6°39′11″E / 44.3867°N 6.6531°E | ||
Country | France | |
Region | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | |
Department | Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | |
Arrondissement | Barcelonnette | |
Canton | Barcelonnette | |
Government | ||
• Mayor (2008–2014) | Jean-Pierre Aubert | |
Area1 | 16.42 km2 (6.34 sq mi) | |
Population (2008)2 | 2,735 | |
• Density | 170/km2 (430/sq mi) | |
Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | |
• Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
INSEE/Postal code | 04019 /04400 | |
Elevation | 1,115–2,680 m (3,658–8,793 ft) (avg. 1,132 m or 3,714 ft) |
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1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. |
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
Barcelonnette (French pronunciation: [baʁsəlɔnɛt]; Occitan: Barcilona de Provença) is a commune of France and a subprefecture in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It is located in the southern French Alps, at the crossroads between Provence, Piedmont and the Dauphiné, and is the largest town in the Ubaye Valley. The town's inhabitants are known as Barcelonnettes.
Barcelonnette was founded and named in 1231, by Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence. While the town's name is generally seen as a diminutive form of Barcelona in Catalonia, Albert Dauzat and Charles Rostaing point out an earlier attestation of the name Barcilona in Barcelonnette in around 1200, and suggest that it is derived instead from two earlier stems signifying a mountain, *bar and *cin (the latter of which is also seen in the name of Mont Cenis).
In the Vivaro-Alpine dialect of Occitan, the town is known as Barcilona de Provença or more rarely Barciloneta according to the classical norm; under the Mistralian norm it is called Barcilouna de Prouvença or Barcilouneto. In Valéian (the dialect of Occitan spoken in the Ubaye Valley), it is called Barcilouna de Prouvença or Barcilounéta.Barcino Nova is the town's Latin name meaning "new Barcelona"; Barcino was the Roman name for Barcelona in Catalonia from its foundation by Emperor Augustus in 10 BC, and it was only changed to Barcelona in the Middle Ages.